POLL: A tomato - Fruit or Vegetable?

Technically it is a fruit, however, we view it as a vegetable because it is not sweet like fruit. Avocados are fruits too! So is my cousin, but that's a whole other question...

The classification of the tomato can be confusing. But there are key things to note. It can actually be considered a vegetable and a fruit at the same time depending on which context it's in.

Scientifically, it is considered a fruit because it is actually the ovary enclosed with seeds that came from a developing flower.

However, due to its culinary usage, since it does not have the conventional "sweet" taste of most other fruits, it is usually classified as a vegetable. It is most often served with other vegetables rather than with fruits or sweet desserts. However, some prefer applying the scientific definition while cooking, despite it not being prepared as a fruit.

Additionally, the US Supreme Court declared the tomato as a vegetable purely on the fact that it is used most often as a vegetable when it comes to paying a tax under a tariff act.

Hence, some "vegetables" such as cucumbers and squashes are also fruits according to scientific definition.

To really figure out if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable, you need to know what makes a fruit a fruit, and a vegetable a vegetable. The big question to ask is, DOES IT HAVE SEEDS?

If the answer is yes, then technically, you have a FRUIT. This, of course, makes your tomato a fruit. It also makes cucumbers, squash, green beans and walnuts all fruits as well. VEGETABLES such as, radishes, celery, carrots, and lettuce do NOT have seeds (that are part of what we eat) and so they are grouped as vegetables.

Now don't go looking for tomatoes next to the oranges in your grocery stores. Certain fruits like tomatoes and green beans will probably always be mostly referred to as "vegetables" in today's society.

NOW YOU KNOW!

Answer: "A tomato is the fruit of the tomato plant, but can be used as a vegetable in cooking."

Proof:

"The confusion about 'fruit' and 'vegetable' arises because of the differences in usage between scientists and cooks.

Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit.

True fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and contain the seeds of the plant (though cultivated forms may be seedless). Blueberries, raspberries, and oranges are true fruits, and so are many kinds of nut. Some plants have a soft part which supports the seeds and is also called a 'fruit', though it is not developed from the ovary: the strawberry is an example.

As far as cooking is concerned, some things which are strictly fruits may be called 'vegetables' because they are used in savoury rather than sweet cooking. The tomato, though technically a fruit, is often used as a vegetable, and a bean pod is also technically a fruit.

The term 'vegetable' is more generally used of other edible parts of plants, such as cabbage leaves, celery stalks, and potato tubers, which are not strictly the fruit of the plant from which they come.

Occasionally the term 'fruit' may be used to refer to a part of a plant which is not a fruit, but which is used in sweet cooking: rhubarb, for example. So a tomato is the fruit of the tomato plant, but can be used as a vegetable in cooking."

Fruit

Fruit

Fruit

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutot...

Scientifically, the tomato is the fruit, but according to the government, it is a vegetable, and should be taxed as such. So, science versus government... who do you think wins? Personally, I think it shoud be both... like a Fregtable, or a Veguit. It's like the tranny of the produce world, and that is why we all love it. XD

~The Otaku Twins~

Fruit.

technically, a tomato is considered to be a fruit because it has seeds. However, that would also mean that peppers and cucumbers are fruits and bananas are vegetables. Tomatoes generally are eaten in salads like a vegetable, and are almost never included in fruit salads (yuck!) their taste and nutrients are more similar to that of a vegetable.